From barber poling to veneer itself, our goal is to help educate everyone on some of the most common terms and phrases used in our industry. Here is a short sample of our “Veneer Glossary”, brought to you by Diversified Wood Products.
- Backer – The material used on the back side of a panel. Typically a lower grade veneer for balance.
- Bark Pocket – A small area of bark around which normal wood has grown.
- Blue Stain – When water remains on the surface of the veneer resulting from insufficient extraction during slicing, it can result in a blue stain on the veneer surface.
- Book Match – A style of matching where every other leaf is turned over to create the image of two adjacent pages of a book. This is the most common method of matching.
- Barber Poling –
- Bundle – When veneer is cut into leaves, it is placed into groups of 24 or 32 leaves called bundles.
- Chatter – Most commonly the result of a mis-calibration of the sander or incorrect pressure on the slicing machine; chatter refers to the cross-running stripes found on the veneer leaves in regular patterns after these issues.
- Checks – Caused primarily during the seasoning process of the wood, checks are the small slits running parallel to the grain of the wood.
- Comb Grain – A quality of rift cut veneer that has exceptionally straight grain.
- Crossbar – Figure in the grain of the veneer that resembles a dip in the grain that runs at right angles to the length of the veneer.
- Cross Grain – Cross grain is when a board of wood is cut so the growth lines in the wood are not parallel with the long edge of the board. Instead the grain lines run diagonally, or cross the width of the board. This would be notated as 8×4 (with the first number always representing the width).
- Delamination – Delamination is the separation of veneer from its substrate when the underlying adhesive fails.
- Face – Typically referring to a “raw face”, this is when leaves of veneer have been spliced together, but not applied to a substrate or backing sheet. A face can also refer to the higher quality side of a panel when differing grades are present.
- Figure – Figure refers to deviations in the natural grain of veneer or irregular colors that are present resulting from growth rings, knots, rays, pins and other irregularities in wood.
- Flares – Markings across the grain of the face.
- Flake – Commonly referred to as “stretch marks” in the wood, flake is created when the pithrays are cut across at an angle when slicing. Flake is most common in White and Red Oak species.
- Flitch – All bundles of the sheets of veneer after cutting, laid together in sequence as they were sliced.
- Grain – The size, direction, arrangement and appearance of the fibers in wood or veneer.
- Gum – Patches or dark spots that can irregularly occur in veneer. Gum typically appears in gum pockets, which are openings between annual growth rings where gum accumulates.
- Gum Spots – Gum or resin that accumulates on the surface of a panel. This can typically be sanded off.
- Joint – The line between the edges of two adjacent leaves of veneer.
- Leaf – Sliced sheet of a veneer flitch.
- Log – The section of a tree that can be sawn or used for veneer.
- Loose side – With veneer cut by a knife, the loose side refers to the side of the sheet that was in contact with the knife. This side typically contains cutting checks because of the bending of the wood at the knife edge.
- Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) – A core product made from wood fibers combined with synthetic resin.
- Mineral – Dark patches or pockets in wood.
- Particleboard (PB) – A core product made of small particles and wood fiber bonded together with synthetic resin in the presence of heat and pressure.
- Patches – Intersections of sound wood plugs placed and taped into veneer faces to fill small holes.
- Pin Knots – Small knots found throughout the veneer sheet.
- Plywood (Veneer Core) – An assembly made of layer of veneer, or of veneer in combination with a solid core, joined with an adhesive.
- Sap – The outer layer of the wood between the bark and the heartwood is called the sap. This layer often has discoloration and is cut away.
- Sequence– Sequence refers to a set of sheets that have been produced from the same log.
- Shake – Cracks in the lumber which follow the annual growth rings.
- Species – A distinct type of wood.
- Split Heart – Sometimes referred to as a “manufactured cathedral”, this is a method of achieving an inverted V shape, or cathedral type figure by joining two flat-cut faces of similar color and grain.
- Stain – Veneer is susceptible to color change when exposed to sun-light or when stored for extreme periods of time. This can result in staining of the veneer.
- Tight side – In knife-cut veneer, the tight side is the side furthest from the blade that will not have any cutting checks.
- Veneer – A thin sheet of wood, cut, sliced or sawed from a log, bolt or flitch. Veneer may be referred to as a play when assembled into a panel.
For more information about wood veneer, please visit our DWP Learning Center.
